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Green Homes – Top 10 Benefits

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green homeGreen building is so much more than saving energy or reducing a home’s environmental footprint. Homeowners of a certified Green Home can realize many more benefits as described below.

Lower Operating Costs – Your Green Home will have lower energy and water bills as a result of energy and water efficiency measures.

Healthier Home – With improved indoor air quality, less harmful off gases and prevention of water intrusion, which can create mold, your family should be healthier, miss less work and school, which hopefully will result in less medical bills

Reduced Maintenance & Replacement Costs – Increased useful life of products and materials will result in cost savings. A properly planned landscaping package will reduce the amount of time spent working in the yard and allow more time to enjoy the outdoors.

Potential Financial Incentives – As green home building has become more mainstream, there are increasingly more federal tax credit and local government and utility company incentive rebates available, lower cost Green mortgages available and more recently, insurance companies are beginning to offer lower premium options.

Higher Performing & Durable Home – You will benefit immensely from a better built and higher performing home; 3rd party verification of duct leaks and house air leaks will insure that any deficiencies discovered can be addressed and repaired during construction, saving untold amount of wasted energy; certification experts will approve your home for your LEED (Leader in Energy & Environmental Design), NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) or other local approved Green certification programs, resulting in a higher valued home.

Environmental Friendly & Sustainable Measures – Can one family building a Green Home solve global warming or bring a complete halt to diminishing resources? No. Can one family building a Green Home contribute to the solution and be part of a movement that one day may be the new standard? YES! Through the use of sustainable practices, recycled and renewable products, and more energy efficient systems, we can reduce the impact on our environment and precious resources.

Higher Value & Resale Advantages – Your certified Green Home will have a higher value than a comparable standard home and if you decide to sell your home, multiple listing systems used by Realtors to sell homes are now recognizing green certification programs and it is much easier to market the benefits of home to buyers.

More Comfortable Home Environment – Imagine the personal benefits to you and your family by living in a quiet, clean, safe, secure and controlled indoor air quality home – is there anything more important that the health and welfare of your family? Is there really a price tag you can assign to the benefit of building a Green Home to you, your children and your grandchildren?

Safer & More Secure – Your family is better protected with the use of high performance smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, radon testing detectors and security system.

Promotes an EcoGreen Luxury Lifestyle - Now that you have decided to build a high performance and healthy Green Home, your life is changed forever – all for the better! Would you furnish your new home with anything other than safe, healthy, organic and eco-friendly products? Might you consider living a healthier lifestyle? Will you sleep in peace knowing you have provided your family a safe, clean, healthy living environment?

As you can see, there are so many more benefits in owning a Green Home than just “energy efficiency” or being “eco-friendly”.

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Indoor Air Quality

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Can be More Polluted Than the Biggest Cities of the World

Scientific evidence shows us that that the indoor air quality of our homes and other buildings can be more unhealthy than the polluted outdoor air of the largest and most industrialized cities on our planet. Research demonstrates that we spend an average of 90 percent of our time indoors, whether it is home, office or other building. Health risks may be far more substantial than given thought due to chronic exposure to indoor air pollution indoors. The first step in resolving any air quality issues in your home is to conduct an air quality test by either purchasing an indoor air quality test for homes or hiring a professional to evaluate your home air-quality.

Indoor air pollution comes from many sources in the home and can be a health risk to anyone in the home, whether it is a multi-million dollar mansion or a small condo off Main Street, USA. Negative health effects might be fairly immediate, as in a toxic reaction, chronic allergies, or even unexplained headaches and fatigue. In addition, detrimental health effects might not show up for many years, long after the initial exposure and manifest as chronic fatigue, cancers and respiratory diseases.

Some of the most common indoor air quality busters are sources of combustion (oil, wood, kerosene, tobacco), building materials and furnishings, out-dated asbestos insulation, household cleaning products, central heating and cooling systems as well as outdoor sources such as radon and pesticides.

The first step is to evaluate your home for pollutants. Once you have feedback from the indoor air quality test for homes evaluation, changes can be made. If you have a substantial amount of pollutants, there are citywide agencies to help eliminate an air pollution problem in your home.

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What is Radon Gas – Should I Be Worried?

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Radon gas is a stealthy serious health hazard in your home. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless radioactive gas produced from the natural breakdown of uranium in soil, rock, and water. Radon gas is a natural by product of our earth’s soil and normally, if nothing is obstructing it like your home or office building, it moves up in to the atmosphere and dissipates causing no harm. Radon mitigation might be necessary if your home has even minor cracks in the foundation, floors, walls, chimney, etc.

Research has demonstrated definitively that radon gas is a carcinogen and can cause lung cancer. If you believe that you are not at risk because you do not have a basement or crawl space or do not use well water, you are mistaken. Radon gas must rise, so it will rise into your living or working space through cracks in the floor, around chimneys, around plumbing pipes and through the ducts of forced air heating systems.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) strongly recommends mitigating if a radon test reads 4 pCi/L or higher. If the radon level test shows above 2 pCi/L, the EPA recommends that consumers consider mitigation.

Fortunately, there are several options available for radon mitigation and they are all proven effective. Working with a professional in this regard will help you find the best most cost-effective resolution. You will have a healthier home or office and feel confident that you maintain a healthy green eco-friendly home environment for you and your family.

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Green Homes – Top 10 Features

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Top 10 Features of a Green Home

A typical builder explanation of a Green Home is “a home that is energy-efficient, water-efficient and incorporates multiple sustainable features that enhance the built environment.” What does this mean to the typical home buyer? Well, not much! And certainly not enough to really peek their interest.

Below is a “Top 10″ list of features you can expect in a typical Green Home. This is just a summary though, actual features will vary according to your price range, the location of the home and just how “green and eco-friendly” you want to be!

  1. Design & Planning – A well thought out home design in consultation with green building experts; the house positioned on your lot to take advantage of existing trees, natural vegetation and prevailing breezes; third party testing and verification of green products and applications in order to meet certification guidelines.
  2. Durability & High Performance – Exterior house wrap utilized for vapor and air infiltration control; HVAC duct system and all house penetrations properly sealed and tested; higher quality products and materials utilized in every aspect of construction; builder and other professionals are more involved at each stage of construction.
  3. Energy Efficiency – High efficient HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system designed and installed; insulated windows with low e glass throughout the home; tankless water heater system for heat on demand; ENERGY STAR appliances and light fixtures.
  4. Water Conservation – Low flow faucet and shower heads installed; dual flush toilets; ENERGY STAR dishwasher; properly designed landscaping and irrigation package.
  5. Indoor Air Quality – Low or no V.O.C. paints, caulks, sealants and cabinets selected; central vacuum system; use of carpeting kept to a minimum; bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans ducted to outside; garage and basement areas insulated and sealed from interior of home.
  6. Resource Efficiency – Engineered products and finger joint material used where possible; concrete and fiber-cement products used in lieu of wood; recycle bins placed on job site to minimize construction debris; well designed recycle center in kitchen.
  7. Landscaping & Outdoors – Drought tolerant turf and plants selected; plants with similar water and maintenance needs grouped together; recycled mulch to maximize moisture retention; irrigation system complete with multi-program clock, rain sensor and separate zones for turf and plants.
  8. Eco-friendly and Healthy Materials – Carefully selected renewable materials that are also eco-friendly, such as bamboo flooring, engineered woods, cork flooring, recycled tile and linoleum.
  9. Health, Safety & Enjoyment – High quality systems installed to control mold, to detect and warn for carbon monoxide and radon gases, to prevent unwanted intrusions with a complete security system and finally, to safely deliver pesticide and termite treatments.
  10. Optional Features – Energy efficient systems such as solar voltaic power and solar energy; structural systems such as structured insulated panels (SIPS) or insulated concrete forms (ICF); indoor air quality filtration systems and whole house dehumidifying system; water conservation measures such as greywater reuse, reclaimed water reuse and rainwater harvesting.

Building a certified Green Home or remodeling an existing home to be certified green, might be the smartest decision you ever make for the health and well-being of not just you and your family, but for the next generation of families throughout the world.

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Radon Gas is a Sneaky Silent Offender

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radon-testingIn the US, radon gas is the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers. Radon gas is a colorless, odorless, tasteless naturally occurring radioactive gas. Radon comes up from the earth and normally dissipates into the atmosphere without harm. Your home is at risk because the radon gas gets trapped in your home and levels rise in your home air environment. Fortunately, radon test kits are simple, affordable and easy to use.

There are two basic types of consumer-friendly radon testing devices available to the public, passive (no power source needed) and active (power source needed). You can order a test kit and set it up yourself or you can hire a professional to perform the test.

Typical passive devices are simple charcoal canisters that are opened and placed in selected locations in your home. Radon gas in the air moves toward the canister and becomes adsorbed into the charcoal. Once the instructed time period has passed (2-7 days), the canister is sent back to the supplier who tests the absorbed radon.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) strongly recommends mitigating if a radon test reads 4 pCi/L or higher. If the radon level shows at or above 2 pCi/L, the EPA recommends that consumers consider mitigation.

There are several methods used to mitigate radon levels in your home or office. A professional will need to evaluate the design of the structure, levels of radon and soil type around and under the structure. Testing for radon is the first step in the process of eliminating your home of this highly dangerous gas and fortunately today, radon test kits are widely available to the public.

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